Pan De Muertos Or All Souls Bread Recipes

PAN DE MUERTOS (MEXICAN BREAD OF THE DEAD)

Steps:

• Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add them warm water. The mixture should be around 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).
• In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
• Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly then brush with glaze.
• To make glaze: In a small saucepan combine the 1/4 cup sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with white sugar.

GLUTEN-FREE PAN DE MUERTO (DAY OF THE DEAD BREAD)

Steps:

• Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add the warm water. The mixture should be around 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).
• In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the flour blend, yeast, salt, anise seed and sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft. Stop adding flour if the dough starts to become stiff (you may not need all the flour!)
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly with floured hands.
• Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. If you'd like to make "bones" on the bread, take no more than 1/5 of the dough and roll fat ropes, then stretch them over the loaf and pinch in sections to mimic the shape of bumpy bones.Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly.
• Sprinkle the top with sugar or cinnamon as desired.

PAN DE MUERTOS OR ALL SOULS BREAD

Steps:

• Mix all dry ingredients together except the 3 - 4 1/2 cups of flour.
• In a small pan, heat the milk, the water, and the butter. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture.
• Beat well.
• Mix in the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of flour. Beat well.
• Put in the rest of the flour, little by little.
• Knead the mixture on a floured board for 9 - 10 minutes.
• Put the dough in a greased bowl and allow it to rise until it has doubled in size (about an hour and a half at sea level).
• Punch the dough down and reshape it with some "bone" shapes on top to decorate it.
• Let it rise another hour.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 40 minutes.
• After baking, sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar and colored sugar.
• Note the number of servings is hard to caculate because of the ability to mold into different shapes for each serving. I am taking a sheer guess and making it eight.